Walk throughs

Ugh! Another "walk through" by the bigwig administration group. They want to see engagement strategies. Great. But these people come when they come. We get a schedule beforehand and itís five minutes per classroom. However, the group is never on time. How are we supposed to do the "dog and pony" show if the group isnít on time? I have lessons to teach. I canít do engagement strategies all day!

At the end of the day, we get the email from the P telling us all the things we need to do better. How can anyone see deep student learning in five minutes?

We had that for awhile, but we, the teachers, were supposed to critique others with a form they gave us. 5-10 minutes. It was friends seeing friends teach with very little real analysis. It's all disappeared into another new wave of something-or-other......

Maybe chalk it up to another "initiative" which makes admins feel they are doing their jobs????

It'll be over soon. I don't get the purpose of these visits, except that people can say they have spent time in classrooms, but you're right, what can they see in such a small amount of time that would be helpful?

I don't do it for anyone.
When my P observes, I simply teach whatever lesson I have planned. I don't do anything special. My opinion is walk throughs and observations should be authentic. Dog and pony shows are not authentic.

Such a waste of time! Here we have the school board (5 people) come through supposedly. However they don't go to every room and THEY SEE WHAT THEY WANT TO SEE. Last year they spent the majority of their time in Special Ed room because one of the board members has a child that utilizes that service. I know they never made it to my room at all. The year before that I had to beg them to come to my room to check it out.

I don't think they want to even be there. Plus it really serves no purpose as far as I can see.

I feel for you. We have observations where I am, but I've never heard of 'walk throughs'. It would seem pointless because my boss 'walks through' my classroom all the time. She helps with reading groups twice a week and she also takes my class for 30 minutes once a week, and last year we co-taught a little. I'm thankful that she knows me AND my students really well. It would tick me off to be 'evaluated' by someone based on five minutes that might not reflect what really goes on during a normal lesson. A dog and pony show in a classroom sounds so stupid.